Olympus E520

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Hello everyone - I'm new here.....

:help:

After almost 30 years using 35mm cameras (Olympus OM1 & 2) I have decided to venture into the dark side and get a digital SLR.

I have been offered a good price on an Olympus E520 kit
(N3126892 E-520 Tele DZ Kit (EZ-1442 & EZ-7030) - incl. Charger + Battery)

which I believe with a OMto 4/3 convertor would enable me to continue to use my collection of lens.

I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me what the camera is like, how it rates with the competiton and if there are any known pitfalls. My OMs were made in Japan and extremely reliable, I understand the E520 is made in the 'PRC' so I am a bit wary about reliabiity and quality.

Any input much appreciated.

Thanks very much
 
There are some ups and downs to the Olympus system compared to the competition.

Ups:

  • Because the Olys have a higher pixel density, you can get more reach from a lens of a given focal length. A 300mm lens on the 510 will give a field of view equivalent to a 600mm lens on a 35mm film camera, or about 450mm on most of the competitions' DSLRs.
  • Because you are using a shorter focal length to get a given field of view, you will have greater depth of field using the Olympus
  • Some of the Olys are very small and they make a 25mm (50mm equivalent field of view) f/2.8 pancake. You can finally have a jacket-pocketable DSLR.
  • Their lower end models come with a true mirror up function, while most manufacturers reserve that for pro bodies.

Downs:

  • Because the sensor in the Olympus cameras is smaller they have poorer low-light capabilities at equivalent apertures.
  • Flipside to one of the ups; at equivalent apertures and field of view you can't achieve such a thin depth of field for artistic purposes.
  • Due to the greater pixel density the Olys are more demanding on lenses. Your old lenses may not be very sharp on the digital bodies. Also their focal lengths may give inconvenient fields of view.
  • Olympus are currently the small fish in the DSLR pond and it's a pond with very high development costs. Doubts have been raised about their ability to keep up with new developments or even to continue production in the long term.
  • Only a one third party manufacturer is making lenses in the Olympus mount and the focal lengths end up being quite strange. Lack of competition unsurprisingly leads to high prices.

My view; if I were mainly interested in macro or wildlife photography I would go with Olympus. If I were interested in the best kit I could get for under 350 pounds, or just wanted the most compact DSLR kit possible, and didn't expect to upgrade much then I'd go for Olympus. Otherwise I would look at one of the other systems.
 
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Thank you.
I don't expect to upgrade much, possibly buying one or two fixed length lenses, altough having seen the prices, this might be doubtful. My own view is that Olympus shot themselves in the foot when they effectively cast OM owners adrift when the system was discontinued.

The prices I have seem hideously expensive, although I am well out of touch with current prices.

Basically I can get the above package for the price that, say, Jessops are punting for the body only.

It sems like a huge jungle out here....:(
 
I don't have one myself but have looked into the Oly system a bit when I was considering a dslr.

Firstly, what OM lenses do you have? There are adapters available from Russia that allow some electronic control for old lenses on Oly dslrs, inc (I think) anti shake and maybe focus control. Although from the oly forums at dpreview it seems that most people don't bother with old om lenses and have moved to the new digital zuikos. I would strongly recomend you ask there for detailed queries on the lenses and system although they will obviously give a very pro Oly view on the system.

The Oly kit lenses inc the 14-42 are supposed to be much better quality than other brands so if you think you will be sticking with the kit lenses rather than upgrading to more premium lenses this is probably a big plus for oly. Similarly the cameras themselves seem to be better made and more fully featured than the entry level from other brands.

Above the kit lens though you will have to pay a lot although they are very good. I don't know much about the 70-300 but I think it is based on a design by a third party like sigma/tamron. Don't forget that with the 2x of the 4/3 system it is quite a long focal length ie 140-600 in 35mm terms. Do you really want that range? The Oly 40-150 seems to get very good reports and would give 80-300 equivelent range.

ps dpreview have reviewed some of thw oly lenses as well as the cameras.
 
Pretty much everything has already been covered, but here's my 2p :)

Olympus just haven't caught up to the same degree as the other DSLR manufacturers. Film-wise, I can't fault them, but if you were going to go digital, I'd recommend you headed for Nikon/Canon/Sony/Pentax/Samsung before I mentioned Olympus, for all the reasons outlined above!
 
Slightly off subject but be very wary of Pentax. I recently tried two brand new K100DS and they were both faulty.
Pentax is apparently no longer an actual manufacturer, having being bought up by Hoya. I believe their quality control has suffered greatly as a result.
Olympus is good stuff, but as usual you get what you pay for..
Cheers :thumbs:
 
Hi

I use Olympus DSLRs and think they are great, here are links to two E-System forums that will help if you are looking for info on the E520 or using the adaptors with manual focus lenses

http://fourthirds-user.com/

http://e-group.uk.net/

Olympus are not as expensive as everyone makes out unless you are looking at the very specialized like the 300mm f2.8 or the 90-250mm f2.8.

As for quality I have an older E-20 and an E-3, both produce fantastic images and I do not reqret buying them :olympus:.
 
I have to say I'm a Olympus fan also. The first Olympus digital I used was E500. To be fair I wasn't impressed with it. But the E410 I use now I think is brilliant. Most of my photography is wildlife and macro based so it's the best option. It's also small and light.

Is it worth mentioning that Olympus may not be as main steam as Cannon, Nikon, etc but the Olympus technologies spread to commercial development (microscopes, science equipment and all that). Photography is only a branch of the company but links in with most other products. I think Olympus will always have a presence on the market because of this.
 
As an E520 user I find it a great camera to use. like you I went for the twin lens option although I only have the smaller two lenses. i will shortly be getting the 150 300 lens to add but that will do me. so far I've had no probs and if the pic is a bit dark you can compensate with the software provided using the tone curve or brightness control. very simple to use and a joy to do so.
 
my uncle is an olympus user and i must say that the 500 series is much more robust than offerings from mainstream manufacturers!

when i was purchasing a DSLR i tried olympus and even the kit lenses feel like premium lenses, they are well worth the money however you say you want fixed focal length and you aren't that interested in upgrading which means canon, nikon and sony.

sony have also unveiled two budget primes 35mm f1.8 and 85mm f2.8 which are going to be sold for cheap so you could always buy them.

one big tip and has helped many is... buy a second hand DSLR body and spend the rest on lenses. i wish i'd had done this when i realised but it never really bothered me, if you like sony then get a second hand sony a200 for around £200 or a300 for around £250, if you like canon then go for a second hand 30D or 400D, if you like nikon then a D80 would be best. pentax i know little about but i suppose a second hand K20D, and for olympus a second hand e510.

then go out and start buying some decent lenses and you say you want fixed lenses well that could mean 35mm, 50mm 85mm which canon, nikon and sony make.
 
ivortripod said:
Slightly off subject but be very wary of Pentax. I recently tried two brand new K100DS and they were both faulty.
Pentax is apparently no longer an actual manufacturer, having being bought up by Hoya. I believe their quality control has suffered greatly as a result.
Olympus is good stuff, but as usual you get what you pay for..
Cheers :thumbs:
Click to expand...


The K100D is years old and was actually made well before Hoya bought Pentax.
 
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